Chapter 2915 - 1383: Guardian Knight

"Want to hear it?"

Yizou rarely showed such a mysterious smile; it was like there was light flickering in her eyes.

"Uh..."

Instinct told Motan that, in this situation, the best choice was not to hear it, because in similar story beats, the character who chooses to listen usually ends up in a situation that’s either a pain in the ass, or mentally tangled, or both painful and tangled—and in this current persona that’s extremely resistant to extra trouble, Motan had always steered well clear of this kind of thing.

But right here and now, Motan helplessly realized he basically had no choice. Even though he’d made a whole lot of preparations, even though he’d given up the chance to finish off Double Leaf in order to act tomorrow, he still felt it wasn’t secure enough.

Motan had never been someone with much sense of security, especially under his "Absolute Neutrality" persona. You could see that clearly from the way he treated Yu Chen—hesitant, hung up, and emotionally entangled. Instead of adopting a method that could clearly solve the problem, he ultimately chose the approach that would minimize his chances of getting hurt, which was essentially an evasive, passive way of dealing with things.

That person who could disguise themselves as him, who had very likely already grasped that there was some kind of connection between the roles of "Mor" and "Hei Fan," naturally put huge pressure on him in this persona, making him wish he could perfect every single step.

And within this pursuit of "perfection," the existence of Yizou Jerrett was indispensable. For no other reason than that Motan’s hand was currently very limited, whereas her ability was utterly bizarre.

So he had no choice.

"All right."

After thinking for quite a while, Motan finally raised his head and gave a slight nod to the Female Knight in front of him, who hadn’t urged him at all and had only been watching him calmly. "Go ahead and tell me."

"In principle, as a delegation guard I only take direct orders from the official members. Among the three official members, Master Tom of Our Dawn Sect has the highest priority. So a request like yours, which is essentially an extra directive, even if I personally very much want to help, I still have no way to put it into practice under these circumstances."

Yizou gave a wry smile and shrugged slightly, speaking softly. "And I also understand that you probably don’t want to trouble Master Tom and the others. So in this situation, your request conflicts with my duties. Even if these duties are flashy but hollow, even if nobody actually needs my protection, that can’t become an excuse for me to just say ’to hell with it.’ You should already be clear on that, right, senior?"

Motan nodded. It’s not like he was an idiot. Even though he hadn’t thought it through that far before, now that Yizou had pointed it out directly, if he still claimed not to understand, that would be him deliberately playing dumb.

The logic was actually very simple: Yizou’s duty was in conflict with his request. With her identity defined as "delegation guard," no matter how little that "guard" role was really worth, no matter whether anyone actually needed that guard, Yizou couldn’t bring herself to commit dereliction of duty.

However... Motan figured Yizou would most likely follow up with a "but."

Sure enough—

"But..."

Yizou smiled slightly and said softly, "If I were a genuine, bona fide guard, then of course there’d be nothing more to say. But we both know that Her Highness Xia Lian gave me this slot mainly because she wanted me to come to the Academy City to keep you and Her Highness the Saintess company. After all, Senior Tom is swamped with work, while Archbishop Spurada, Lady Feiyali, and Prince Blake are from the external teachings. She probably didn’t want you and Her Highness Wang Yu to end up without even someone to chat with to kill time."

"On that point, I actually disagree."

Motan shook his head and cut the Female Knight off, saying with a small laugh, "You know full well that Wang Yu and I exist in a different way from everyone else. You also know we’ve got other friends coming to the Academy City. And someone like Xia Lian, who’s been alive for hundreds of years, would never fail to notice that. So I think while she does want us to look out for each other, she wouldn’t go so far as to fight for a slot just to find someone to keep the two of us company for small talk."

Yizou was slightly stunned. "Then... what you mean is, senior...?" she asked in surprise.

"I’m saying, isn’t there another possible explanation?"

Motan smiled, his tone leisurely. "Maybe the reason she let you come here is simply that Her Highness Xia Lian felt you never really got to rest properly. Before this, you even fought that tough battle with me in Sumer, and you ended up seriously injured. So she hoped you could come here, enjoy the bustle, get some rest, and really relax for a while?"

"Ah... this..."

Yizou blinked, and then she suddenly recalled how, just before departure, Xia Lian had inexplicably scolded her while she was packing her gear, then slapped her shoulder hard and said, "Have fun." With that memory, a lot of things suddenly clicked into place, and two visibly red patches rose on her pretty face.

"Sigh, it’s our fault—Yu Chen and I were careless. If we’d known you’d always thought of it this way, we should’ve reminded you earlier. Now the exchange is almost over,"

Motan said, covering his forehead helplessly with his hand and letting out a bitter little chuckle. "To make up for it, we’ll go with you later to buy some souvenirs and have a proper day out."

Caught off guard by the discovery that the human world was full of love, Yizou panicked on the spot and waved her hands in a fluster. "No, no, there’s no need. Actually, whenever you were resting, senior, as long as Her Highness Wang Yu had any free time, she’d drag me out to wander around, and sometimes Lady Feiyali would come too. I... I’ve been having a great time. I bought a lot of pretty clothes, and tried all sorts of things you don’t see in the City of Light... I just feel a bit guilty, because all along I thought I wasn’t here to have fun..."